Day: July 18, 2018

Integrated Science – Wednesday

On Wednesday students in the Integrated Science program expanded their understandings of water by incorporating the concept of carbon. In the morning they dove into photosynthesis – how plants convert light energy into “food” – first by reviewing the basics in a classroom mini-lecture, and then by performing an experiment in the lab. They removed all the gas from pieces of spinach, dropped them in various solutions, and viewed them under different colored light conditions to see if they floated as they released gas while photosynthesizing. Throughout the rest of the day students continued focusing on how carbon factors in to our understanding of water, especially in terms of metabolism in biological organisms.

Micro STEM @ Aurora – Tuesday: Applied Circuitry

Today, the campers continued working on their hand fans! Now that their main design had been sketched and the handle and main body was build, the budding electrical engineers could start with the circuitry and wiring. Using a small motor, a battery pack, and lots of wires, the campers finally got the head of the fan to move! We can’t wait to see their final projects tomorrow once they add lights and complete the design.

BioSleuths @ Aurora – Tuesday: Honey Bees

One of the four areas students investigated today was the intricate social nature of bees and how the different types of bees work together to make honey, the honeycomb, and more bees! As a group, students enacted the roles of the bees in a hive and “produced” their own honey. “I can’t believe bees have to work so hard just to make a little honey!” observed one student.

Our intrepid biosleuths also used manipulatives and geometry to discover how and why honeybees have perfected their honeycomb design and concluded that hexagons are the optimal shape for honeycomb cells.

Ask your student:

From which part of the bee’s body does the wax come? (abdomen)

Which type of bee in the colony builds the honeycomb? (worker)

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